The Sun. — London, England, 1810-06-16 00:00:00

been put upon his paper, the Press must be silent, or writers would have to confine their co lumns to the praises of men in power. The em ployment of the German troops was that circum stance which had excited his indignation; to see those foreigners brought to superintend, or per haps inflift the punishment on the misted young . men who had been concerned in the squabble at Ely, excited his indignation more t' an the punishthent , itself. Our ancestors had always disliked foreign troops ; almost every body disliked them, and sure ly that dislike could nor be Construed into any thing Jacobinical. In 1628 the Commons itad remon strated with Charles I. against the introduC•iion of German horse.-IHere Mr. Cobbett, read the pas sage.]—Those sentiments, contained in that pro test, were his (Mr. C.'s) sentiments, and the con published worse than this , f", ,r which they had not been prosecuted. Fecerunt alii et multi et Ilejores. . ' That was his arg - u:nent. The libel, he had elluded to, it was true, had been prosecuted by his Learned Predecessor ; and, it was also true, that it bad been suspended by himself, but not for the reason assign ed by the defendant. The wickedness of him who composes, and of him who'prints a libel, certainly bore no comparison .and except for deterring others, there was no reason for prosecuting a printer; unless it were for the purpose of gett i ng at the author. Alth oug h men who lend themselves to. others were, in such cases, guilty of a - serious crime, there was, be repeated, no comparison be tween. the printer and the aethor. Now the author - of the Betide in the paper alluded to had been ascer tained, who not being in the kingdom, hed.not Set been prosecuted ; but when that person returned to England, hews:veld certainly be prosecuted, and, if found 'guilty, punished as he deserved. On that account the presecution already instituted had been suspended—not dropped. Mr. Cobbett had given them a pretty long a ccount o f hi mse lf and of his principles—and according to that, no man had been so greatly, so cruelly calumniated as Mr. Cobbett. He was not, however, sure that Mr. Cobbett had an accurate distinction between the aaive and pas sive voice. He was not a constant feeder of Mr. • Cobbeit's Register ; but it had not 'alien in his way to see many publications which should lead' him to believe that 'Mr. Cobbett was a mean more sinned against than sinning—that he was, as he said, " the most calumniated man in the country." He had, in the course of his defence, bestowed no in considerable share of praise on himself, of the full benefit of which he would not deprive 'him. One concession he was ready to make to Mr. Cobbett— that, at the early part of his life, he had preten sions to that loyalty which he now so loudly pro fessed ; but Mr. Cobbett having appealed to him (the Attorney General) as knowing the loyalty of his principles, at this time he felt himself bound to say, that no means had been afforded him of draw ing any `such conclusion. Mr. Cobbett, in defend ing himself, had dispraised the taste and style of the alleged libel ; but as to the evil intentions imputed to him for that publication, he fleeted that as a mere trifle.; as to any wickedness of intention, that was quite, out of sight : and then Mr. Cobbett read a protest against the introdu6tion of foreign troops, and had afterwards stated, that such protest was in' confOrmity }with his opinion. It would be of no consequence to any one of what opinion Mr. Cob bett might be ; but ha, the Attorney General, would ask the Jury, 'had Mr. Cobbett merely of fered an opinion - on this subject ? He had intro duced his opinion by stating, that the Acts authorising his Majesty to raise foreign troops were mere acts of indemnity, but in his defence had contented himself with stating his own conduct and opiniods, and con cluded his argument by assuring the Court and Jury that the libel was merely a mode of writing he had adopted, for pointing out the errors of Lord Castlereagh'l but he would ask the Jury, was there any thing like discussion in the' paper ?. Did • Mr. Cobbett, in that paper, seem to think there was any wiser course than that adopted by the Legislature— did he think it would be the wiser course to wait the arrival of the enemy ere the people should be tra'ned to arms; or did he wish to prevent the people 'from submitting to any measure of that sort ? It must be remembered that this paper appeared after a le gislative measure had been passed, by' which a mi litary force had been embodied, and, after a muti ny had taken place, for which punishment had been awarded, although a part of that punishment had been remitted ; the objet`' then of Mr. Cobbett must have been again to light bp the flame of discord, by holding out that the German Legion was brought for the purpose of flogging our soldiers who were forced into the army by measures more tyrannteal than those of tuonaparte: But his Lordship - would tell them, wheteer the object of this paper was not to ,create general discontent, and defame and vilify those who bad Iceally entered into the service of this country. He would tell them whether it wi s not the object of this paper to insinuate, that our army was raised by measures more tyrannous than even those of Buonaparte. (The Attorney General then read several of the passages from the libel, on each of which he animadverted.) He asked, what could Mr. Cobbett mean but to re preach and , taunt the Local Militia for having submitted to be flogged ? Did he not naaan to ridicule them for being so. dastardly"? Surely he did— and meant also to excite the people of Ely to kee the soldiers from the punishment of the 1aw...-. Could any man of common sense doubt that he meant to reproach ,the people of Ely for ha v in g p a , tiently witnessed the scene ? These men who were punished had surrounded . and beset their Officers, and being guilty of mutiny, were sentenced to a deserved punishment. But this mutiny -Mr. Cob bett had treated very slightly, and his indignation bad been powerfully excited, that in consequence of this trivial offence, /this squabble, the German Legion should have been bent for to flog them. But that was not the fad ; the German ,Legion . had been sent for to suppress, in, the first insta nce , •a Most dangerous mutiny, and eventually to oblige the mutineers to submit to the dacision of the law, by which they were awdrded punishment. Mr. Cobbett did not even allow it. to be a mutiny, but merely a little. disorderry conduct ; a squabble about the marching guinea. It would be wasting time to offer further ebservations to skew that this was a libel. But pee word he must say on that,scan dal which Mr. Cobbett bad cast on the German Le gion. That among 12,000 men,some men might have misconducted themselves he would not deny, nut this he would maintain,• that there never was a military, corps in ,this kingdom of -whoin there was so lit tle complaint, or so little cause of c om pl a i nt . H e had no doubt that every act - of misconduct, how ever trivial, found its way to the defendant ; but if the whole came to 'be scrutinized, even in the ag gregete which he might thus collect, it would be seen that their general conduct " mould be found ff such as he cthe Attorney-General) had dLscrihed; Mr. Cobbett bad stated, that the German Legion had acted with cowardice at Talavera ; but this, he knew,- that of the four standards taken in that battle, three were taken by the German Legion ! That was, an extraordinary pro o f of cowardice du& of the German .troops, within his own obser vation, had strengthened that opinion.—[Mr. Cob ' bett then read another pas.age, from a debate on the appointment of Foreign Officers, in the reign of .William lII.] .There were nu fewer than 4 or 5 German Mene- rids who commanded even English Generals. Since the year" 1786 this force had increased from 24 to , 34,000 men. We had 34,124' foreigners, 4 Gene as, 4 Lieutenant-Generals, and fg Colonels. There was also a Frenchman, of the name of Montalam ben, on the Staff in. Sussex, and two French, men at a Dock-yard in Wales—that uas direttly against the laW. Both the Atts of Parliament by -which Gertnan troops are allowed to bein Engiann, were in truth, merely AdS of Indemnity. for the de claration of rights. and other statutes had declared the holding vlaces of trust either civil or military, illegal. There were no less than 773 German 01E- . - cers in our service, and, including foreigners of other - nations, there were 1509 foreign officers in our pay. Of the number of foreign troops in our - service, not more than 4 or 5000 menihad been en , listed in this country—many of the 34,000 had been even enlisted in Spain—taken out of prison there, having been ire Dupont's army ?—Why then were these men brought to superintend the lashing the backs of his own countrymen ?—lt had been assert ed that the German troops had behaved biavely at Talavera—that he knew to be the contrary of the fa& ; he had a letter from an Officer of Horse Ar .tillery, Lieutenant Frederick R ee d, t o an Offi cer high in Government, in the Office of Ordnance, in which it was asserted, that from the cowardice of the German Legion, some English regiments would have been cut off if the 29th had npt come to their assistance. ' This was confirmed to him by several Officers, who had slept at his house at Bosley, after - their arrival in England. A - German officer, of the name of Landreth, had in , deed seized a standard, and endeavoured to rally his countrymen, but it was found'impossible. 'With respect to their conduct in quarters, he was.him self able' to form some estimate, as he lived in the neighbourhood where they were quartered. But he would first read a document which would spew what had been their conduee• even in Ger many. (Mr. Cobbett thpn read a letter from the Archduke Charles, to the Duke of Brunswick Oels, reprobating'the excesses committed by his corps in Saxony.)—These- were the very ,men now in ()it' pay. On their landing in England they were quartered' in , the Isle of Wight, where they committed every species of brutal excess—from whence they were sent to Ireland, on account of their eoormities. They had even been accused of committing murders. A landlord, who refit-ed them liquor, had-been attacked by them with swords, in his own bar, in the most ferocious manner. And the terror of the inhabitants of Newport exceeded any thing that lied been done in this country. The Attorney e General bad, therefore, been grossly mis informed on the subjeei Of their bravery and good conduct. Among those men there 'might be goOd men, but they could not have the feelings of Eng lishmen. There could be no doubt that they would love their own country best, for if a marebe born even in Lapland, he would prefer it, and would they not prefer _ Germany) If Buonaparte were to land, he should fear they would not be likely to be 'a strong defence for England. They might be come the advanced guard of Buonaparte—the 'Trojan Horee,with his belly filled with Hanoverians instead of Greeks. At Goadaloupe the 60th regiment, we were told, had run away. The def.& of that regiment was a,t Lym.ingtoo, and was filled up prin ci,pa!lj with Fo.eigners and vagabonds taken nom our jells, whence they. were shipped off to the Goth regiment in INe -West, Indies, where they had an op portunity of sewing their bravery--by running , away. Under these impressions be h a d wr i t t en th e article in question, and he trusted the Jury would see that it .could arise from no evil intention. but from the irritation of his feelings alone. Every ad vantage he possessed was prospective—all hi's pros pectse his property, his publication, ,even the very trees he planted, ail depended on the continuance of his Majesty's Government ; and that, therefore, it Was impossible that any marl could impute to him an intention so stupid, so absurd, so senseless, as to wish for the (wet throw of that Government und er w hi c h •„ he lived. • He could not bear such a calumny as had been t vtered against those brave men without repelling it. The question before the Court and Jury was not, however, on the merifs or demerits of the German Legion the question for the Jury to decide was, whether that mischievous paper which had been read, had it not in vie* to hold tip those brave men to obloquy and contempt, and, to excite itL the minds of the military disobedience and resistance, and in those of the people at large of this country, a disposition to discontent and disaffe&ion. - Lord ELLENBOHOUGII commenced with a recapi tulation of the material parts of the alleged libel, and observed, that the question Tor the Jury to con sider, was, whether. the mischief ascribed to this puSlication was fairly ascribable to it, whether it was of the noxious tendency imputed ,to it, The Defendant had stated, that lie 'was a most ca lumniated..man. Whether , that was the case, he knew not. But he hoped and trusted the Jury would exclude all prejudice from their minds—that they would consider. the Defendant as a new ny.i.n, whose character was wholly unknown to thern.before this day. His Lordship, after reading another extract from the Register, proceeded in ,his commentary.— The_delendant had, he. said, stated that this conduct oh the part of the Militia, was not a mutiny, but • a • mere squable with their officers- about a march-- ing guinea. But how a squabble with (heir offi cers could be considered as any other than adt of mutiny, and of the most dangerous sort too, was quite beyond his conception. The defendant had laid in his claim to discuss the policy of employ ing • foreign troops, and the propriety of this claim lie fully admitted. .Although the employ.: inent of foreign troops had received the sanction of the Legislature, still it was competent to the defendant, or any other individual, to discuss that, or any other public measure, in temperate and decent_ language, to suggest such a change as 'he might think expedient and necessary. That the defendant or any other person, was entitled to express his 'opi nion—to address himself in temperate and qualified terms to the sober reason of the country, and to endeavour to impress that opinion upon Parha ment itself, no one can question. And if such an exercise of mit - Inestimable right were browght under the consideration of the Jury, he believed that neither they, nor he, nor any person occu- pying the honourable situation which he so un worthily filled, would have been found ready to pro nounce it a proper,-subjeCt for punishment. It wag for the Jury to consider whether the publication then before theca was really of that character. The defendant had said, that it was the intention of . a writer, in cases of this nature, which was to be looked at. But how was that intention to be colleeted ? Not surely from the mere asser _ _ _ tion' of a defendant in a moment of peril—when 1 upon his trial,. but from the tenor of his_ publica• I tion. If that publication imported mischief, the Jury were bound to conceive that mischief was intend ed.- This was the correct and legal rule of judgment as to intention. The publication before the Jury was not, it must be seen, one random expression, liable to be indiscreetly written in a hurry, but a continuity of terms, and it was their province to de cide whether such a publication had, or could have any but one purpose—(Hqe the Learned Lori read a passage from the libel, referring to the contr as t of Mr.Wardle's opinion with that of Mc. Hus kisson, with resi;ea to' the employment of fo reign troops, and the use they were meant for in this country, namely, for the infliction of punish ment upon British.solchers, and pointed the atten tion of the Jury to this passage, if any doubts exist ed in their mind.) If any thing indeed were wanted by way of explanation, in order to enable them to cone& the defendant's real meaning in this passage, it was only necessary-to refer to the following - expees.; sion of his • own towards the close of his de fence —" I should not have said so much of, these . Germans if they had not been broughtinio this country to flog the backs of my own conntry ' men." Could the Jury then, atter this expo sition of his own text, entertain any doubt of the defendant's intention ? What, he would ask, was the obvious tendency, the, probable effirel of such a publication upon the minds of Men employed to de fend the country at the risk of their lives Was 'it not calculated to generate a spirit of discontent—to loosen a 1 the links and ties of military subordina tion ; and, of course, to produce the most. serious mischiefs. If such, then, were its tendency, it must surely deserve the character and consequence of intemperance and libel. But could the pur pose of the defendant be deemed for a moment ambiguous. The repeating so frequently and em phatically, the words "flog them, flog diem," could he mean it as an advice to the officers to urge a repetition of the punishment, or as an exhortation to the men to induce them to submit to it ? No, the meaning was clearly this, that if these militia men endured punishment, that if they suffered them , selves to be punished , with arms in their hand, with which they might make resistance, they richly de served- that punishment however severe it might be. Now as to the Defendant's address to the inhabitants of Ely,did not this address appear to imply an imputa tion or reproach upon the inhabitants, for having, passively witnessed the_ puniShmeuts alluded to ?--- What else could it mean ? The Defendant had not, he observed, - touched upon this point in the course of his ckle,nce, but be had endeavoured to; defend the whole article, by stating that it• was merely a composition of bid taste—that it was only defective in style. . Was this, 'however, the only fault attributable to it ? Was this the only infer ence to be drawn from it ?, Did it not betray a bad moral and political feeling ; and was not its e‘'idett: purpose to excite the soldiery. against each other, and to excitesthe people against Ministers— against the whole Government and Constitution, under whose laws and orders the ponislinients re ferred to had been inflicted ? With regard to the defendanes allusion to the conduct of Buonapa - rte," as contrasted with the conduct of the Government of this Country, he had thought proper to appeal to those whom he described as loyal wooers against toe •practices of Buonaparte. Now, whether the. persons appealed to, whom perhaps it was not quite delicate to introduce on this occasion, namely, Mr- Bowles, Mr. Villiers, and Mr. Hunt, had . written against the French,' Ruler or not, he did not know, and therefore could not refer to their au- The ATTORNEY GENERAL thsught Mr. Cobbett would have better consulted hiS interest, it, instead of the defence he had made, he had admitted, as the thet De:fendants had ; that he had published a libel, (by letting judgment go by default) instead of adding to it by the scandal he had uttrred in his defence. lie . wpild tell the July - why the Defendant had not been brought to trial sooner. It had been indus triously eircuLited that he (the Attorney General) bad given up the trill,. when he had no such in tention.' It was well known to every professtonal man, the Defendant, living at 40 miles distance Irony London, had it in his power to protraa the trial, which he certainly had done. He had'avalled himself of his right of defrring tlw putting in of his plea, until after three rulei to plead . lpd been given; he had remained at l3otley, which; from the distance from London, required t,,at he , Stiolild . have 14 days notice of trial ; this, togethi-r with a.. impathince, was the sole cause that the trial had not sooner come on. The De!endant had siated, ti•at he was first called op to London to be tried, and then told to go beck.againt. - That w a mere dry, cold, -inv e . l i ion was . _ _ O . ( the — defendant kr:Cobbett ha 4 urged asp reason ictr re should not be prosecuted, that others had means: LONLQN: Pribled by RICHARD, HARRIS, or No. 4 , ii,4artiett..eo•lrt, Bow-street; i•nd 1 1 / 4 blisbcti by WILLIAM A RMI GE R SCRIPPS, South Molton.street, Grosvenor square, for the Paper, Letters .. for, the Editor, &C. (post-paid); rust bt. addressed. [le SuN•O FFICE , N o . 112 , S trAn d „ wh ere Id vert i sements, 07 tiers . • tliority. But he had read a work lately u ten by an. American of eminence, who stronelY reptcibated the policy and- practice of Buonapal le, particularly with respea to the law of conscription, or the mode of raising men for his army, and lie thought that such policy and praaice was not to be paralleled in this country. What, however, was the Defendant's obje& in the paragraph alluded to ? Why it was evidently this—that, the British Go vernment had nought to complain of Buonaparte fur any cruelty attributed to him, because "-as many cruelties are committed here as by Buonaparte in France." Was not this, he would appeal to any candid reader, the purport of the publication, and had it not therefore a tendency to eccite mutiny ? But it was for the Jury to consider and pronounce on the whole whether this publication was that of a writer wh ose z ea l overstep p ed his discretion, or whether the words of it were to be understood to mean what they clearly imported—whether they had a tendency to create irritation and discontent between our foreign and British troops, to produce discord and•disunion among the different branches of that military force, 'upon whose entire and cordial union, particularly at the present crisis, the safety of our country so materially depends: If such were the objea of the writer, if he designed - to pro duce such a mischievous species of - animosity, he surely well merited the description of a seditious libeller. " According t o l aw ," sa id hi s L or d sh i p , " it is my duty to state to you my opinion upon any case submitted for yoar consideration. When I have doubts, I never decline to communicate those doubts, and when I differ in .opinion from the-prosecution, have no hesitation to state that difference ; but upon this occasion I must say, that I feel no such doubt or difference, it being.ihe confident certainty and full conviction of my mind, that this is a most seditious -- The Jury, after consulting for about two minutes, xet urnedp verdict of—Guilty. TO CORRLSPONDANTS. 4 4* The details published respelling Gen. SARRASIN in the rapers have been erroneous. We :;hall on Monday lay be- fore our Readers some authentic particulars respeding that Gentleman. The length of the Debate, and of the,Prodedings in the Court of King's-Bench, will, we trust, be accepted by dat Correspondents for the omission of their favours. • MAULS. Aartrvan - 2 Cottenburgh, t Lisbqn, a Jamaica, a Dublin, t Waterford. LuE —1 Malta, a Waterford. • PRICE OF STOCKS • THIS DAY AT TVYZI.VK O'CLOCK. Consols for Opening 711 1 Omnium . . 1 TH E S UN. SOLtD4 QUIS DICIRE FALSUM AUDEAT ? LON D 0 SATURDAY, ,JUNE 16, 1810. The Prince of Wales packet has arrived at Fal mouth from Lisbon ; by this vessel we have received Portuguese Papers to the. 25th ult. The Britiih Aimy still retains the same positions, and we are happy to find that it is' in perfect health, and abun dantly supplied with provisions. MASSENA 1 115 taken the command of the French Army on the frontiers of Portugal, and it is stated, that after re viewing it, he declared that he could not attempt to attack Portugal without considerable reinforcements• We do not think it probable that MASSENA ever made such a declaration, but at the same . time w e are convinced that he will not v'-nture to advance , unless with an immense superiority of force. Th e . French Army is said to have retreated, but the past" .tions are not mentioned. The accounts from Cadiz are very imperfea. Ths French army before that place appear to be verY much impeded in their operations, by the exertions of the Patriots in their rear, who, are constantly tercepting their communications. The French hod' quarters have been removed from Chiclana to Santa Maria, which forms one of the points of the 1 33 Y of Cadiz, This morning a Mail from Gottenturgh arrived it contains no article of importance, except 0 113° further details respecting the death of the Crown Prince. There does. not appear to be any reason t°-• attribute his death to poison, ,or any other violent We this morning received Jamaica Papers to the 22d April. The report of a French squadron ha": ing made its appearance in the. West' Indies, i 5 again renewed ; and it is added, that an embb.rg ° was expected to take place in 'the West 11 1 4' 3 Islands. This report must have originated in atri s " take, as we know that no French fleet has saik' d from &rope. A Gottenburgh Mail arrived this morning, bat's brings no news whatever. We are happy to hear, that it is in the conteto, plation of the Insurance Offices-of the City of N."' York, to present a Gold Medal to Admiral Pl?Ftv' s ; , in testimony of t h e grate f ul sense they entertain °` his spirited, disinterested, and humane exertions, in assisting the distressed American vessels and c rews: in the storm of March, in the harbour of CadtZ , This testimony is also to be accompanied by a hand:: some contribution for the relief of the families of the 'British squadron who were sacrificed in this ritorious service. The Princess AMELIA had a very good night 0 1 /• Thursday, and was considered a little better 'yeiter: day morning. The Royal Family visited her Royili , , • Highness in the course of the day. i ~~